Oran Berries and Blizzards ((Name will change!))
by geekyfiki
Summary: Glaceon's dream has always been to be caught by a kind trainer. She meets Lloyd, a pink-haired kid who often gets picked on. With Glaceon's sarcasm and Lloyd's innocence, they make the most unlikely trainer and pokemon pairing. However, together they're unstoppable. Especially after Lloyd discovers pokemon can talk.


**(A/N): I wrote this story forever ago, but I actually... Like it...? Strange, since I usually hide my old stories in the deepest darkest corners of my computer that I call the "Folders of Shame". Anyway, if I get enough reviews and whatnot, I'll write more! Feel free to comment about any improper grammar. I don't always see those things, and my best friend ((otherwise known as my "Editor in Chief")) sometimes misses a few things. Anyway, sorry for ranting. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 – Glaceon's Dream

I walk along the tall grass, practically waiting for a trainer to ruin my newly made nest. I actually want to be caught by a trainer. I believe it would be better than constantly battling passing trainers. A few trainers have tried to capture me, but I don't like most of them. Some are too hard, others seem to just want to collect pokemon. I really don't like that, though. Being a Glaceon is tough. I'm pretty rare, apparently. I remember being a cute little Eevee. No one wanted me. Eevees are pretty common. But then, I swore I'd become an Umbreon. It didn't work. I became a Glaceon, but I'm pretty cool with that.

My neighbor, a really stupid Meganium, comes tumbling into my patch. I glare at her-something Glaceons are pretty good at, apparently. She bows her head and walks back away from my patch. I'm not a common pokemon around these areas. I'm supposed to be around the colder regions, but I moved down to the warmer regions to see if there were more trainers who wanted me. All I want to do is be a trainer's pokemon. I want to be able to battle other pokemon with my trainer and have them command me on what to do.

I actually always wondered what it would be like if I was a human. I know it's impossible unless I get the Hito Stone, and that's only a legend. And I would have to have a trainer to work it, which I don't have. The Hito Stone probably doesn't exist, and is just a story that pokemon tell lower level pokemon to make them feel better. According to the legend, the Hito Stone can transform any pokemon into a human.

A rustling of the bushes and the feel of human feet shaking the ground catches my attention. They're speaking rather loudly, too. I try to lay back down in my soft nest, but they can't seem to keep it down. Finally, my temper at its last straw, I stand up, crying out to the trainer. The human is rather large, and seems to be male. It wears its cap on backwards. That seems to be some sort of new style. Ever since one of the humans and his pokemon got really powerful, the people have been trying to resemble him: backwards hat, gloves, and, of course, Pikachus. I feel sorry for the Pikachu who is about to pop out of the pokeball. The fat human chucks the ball at the ground. The Pikachu comes out, dizzy.

"Pikachu! Use thundershock!" the trainer yells. The Pikachu probably wouldn't be able to use thundershock if its life depended on it. The Pikachu looks at me with its large black eyes. I use icy wind and it faints immediately. The fat trainer pulls out a Pichu. Okay, now he's desperate. He tries to capture me in a pokeball. I break out and use icy wind again. The fat trainer gives up and runs off. I'm left to my cushy grass to sleep. By the time morning rolls around, nothing has happened but me shooing off some low-level Caterpies and a Butterfree. My neighborly Meganium comes for a visit, but I push her away. She seems rather angry, too. I'm not the nicest to my neighbors. Meganium seems to be the nicest, but also the stupidest. She could probably squish me in a millisecond. I could say something to her, but pokemon have this unspoken ((literally)) rule that we don't speak. We really could, but we don't.

Meganium lets the ground rumble under her giant feet. Some of our other neighbors look up to glare at me. The most powerful pokemon around here pokes his head up. The Venusaur stares at me, then marches his fat self over. I sit down and stare at him. He motions with his vines for me to leave. I stare at him blankly, pretending not to understand. I can't leave this place. It's the only place where I'm virtually undisturbed and wild pokemon don't bother attacking me. He motions again, and I know he's as smart as I am. Head down, I stand up and walk away from the patches of grass. The other wild pokemon eye me curiously. I snap at them. They back off. I head off towards the east, never looking back. I don't really have a place to call home, and never had. I really love the cold, being a Glaceon, it's to be expected. But honestly, I loved the cold before I was a Glaceon. As an Eevee, I loved being around the cold. The other Eevees just liked to be at room temperature. A few liked to snuggle under the covers ((I suppose they became Flareons)), others liked storms ((Jolteons)), and others liked swimming ((Vaporeons)). But I was the only one who liked the cold.

I just keep walking, hoping to find some sort of shelter or patch of soft grass. I look at the other pokemon. The more I walk, the weaker the surrounding pokemon seem. I finally realize that I've been walking all day. I get a drink at the stream and find some Chesto berries, so I eat those. I take a quick nap and walk some more. My day consists of all walking. At one point, I come across a female trainer with a really weak Pidgey that she had just caught. The Pidgey wasn't listening, and ended up fainting because of it. After defeating it, I wasn't even panting.

"I can't believe there was a super powerful pokemon!" the little girl exclaims, running off to the nearest pokecenter. She was crying. I walk along the thickest grass I can. Some Pidgey that thinks it's big and tough learns that it's really not. The rumor about a strong pokemon being in an area like this gets around quickly. A professor comes, lab coat and all, with a pokedex to see me. I run off into the nearest tree. I really stink at running up trees. I've seen a professor one time before when one tried to do the same. They were trying to register me in their pokedex. I don't want to be registered in a pokedex. I don't know what it does to you, but I don't want to cooperate with any humans but my future trainer.

"Well, I guess we won't be able to see her today," the professor tells a few kids. They all groan and walk away. The professor stays for a moment, looking up the tree I went up, and then turns and walks away. I climb down my tree and walk toward the town. I decide against it and turn the opposite direction. I find a particularly soft patch of grass that is nicely hidden. I kick the Bidoof out of its little spot and curl up. I'm asleep before I know it.

Chapter 2 – Responsibilities

"Wake up!" Aunt Joy yells up the stairs. I groan and roll over, attempting to block any light from my precious silver eyes. The sound of footsteps up the stairs sends me scrambling for my slippers. I sit up straight and make an attempt at a normal facial expression. "Oh good! You're awake! Better get ready to find your pokemon today!" she remarks, opening the shades. I totally forgot! Today is the day when they hand me a couple pokeballs and tell me to go catch a pokemon. I'm dressed and ready before Aunt Joy can walk over to the other window to open the shades.

"Can I go now!?" I beg her. She laughs.

"Just a moment…" She scrambles around in her pocket and pulls out a pink heal ball. I cringe. She sees my expression and reacts quickly. "It heals the pokemon when you catch it. Just trust me on this, hon. Please take it with you just in case you don't catch the pokemon in time," she begs. I figure it's better to listen to her and take it rather than to argue. The faster I can get out of here, the faster I can have a pokemon.

"Now can I go?" I ask happily. She laughs at me. Her Chansey bounds up the stairs and tackles me to the ground. "Not today, Chansey!" I say, struggling to get out from under her. She bounces off of me and stands next to my aunt.

"You can go now," she smiles. I dash down the stairs, but Aunt Joy yells something else. "Don't forget your shoes!" I walk back up the stairs, grab them from her, and run to Professor Dogwood's lab-barefoot. He's really old, probably around 50. He has white hair that kind of sticks up everywhere.

"Good morning, boy!" he says. He calls everyone boy or girl so he doesn't have to remember their names. Apparently that doesn't work for younger people, because Aunt Joy told me not to call people that. Especially older people.

"Good morning, Professor Dogwood," I say back.

"Here to get your pokeballs, are you?" he asks. I nod excitedly. He pulls out 10 pokeballs and puts them in a sack for me. "Catch a pokemon, and come right back so we can give you a pokedex." I take the sack and run to the edge of town. I wade through the tall grass. They never cut it because there are so many wild pokemon that live in it. I come across a Pidgey and freeze up-too afraid to even throw the pokeball. It stares at me with those giant, black eyes and then flies away. I throw a pokeball at a Bidoof, but it breaks free. I've never like Bidoofs, actually. A Shinx comes up to me, and I throw the pokeball fast. It breaks free and runs away. This goes on for a while, actually. I throw pokeballs, but the pokemon seem to hate me.

"Oh Bidoof!" I sigh. A Pikachu comes up to me and looks at me. I really don't like Pikachus. They're annoying and there's too many of them. Everyone wants to be like Ash Ketchum, so they catch a bunch of Pikachus and wear their hats backwards. I hear a rustle in the leaves and get up. A flash of shiny blue reflects off of a pokemon and blinds me with their light for a moment. I blink and look. A blue fox looking thing stands in front of me, challenging me. I look really closely at it. I've always wanted to do something with pokemon, so I study them hard, but this one clearly doesn't belong here. It glares at me, still challenging me.

"I don't have any pokemon," I tell it. It sits on its haunches and looks at me carefully. It seems to make up its mind and lays down. It's a really beautiful pokemon. Ears included, it barely comes to my waist. I study it harder. "You're a Glaceon, aren't you?" I ask it. I know it won't respond, but I talk to it anyway. It stares at me. I bend over, getting an idea. I scoop up some dirt and throw it at her boldly. She shakes her coat madly.

"Oh Rattata!" a female voice says. I realize something. _It came from the Glaceon._ She looks at me, frightened.

"You… You speak…" I say back. She stares at me, worried. "POKEMON TALK!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" she yells back. She's got quite the voice. It's really strong and mean sounding. I stare at her, still really scared. "Yes, pokemon can talk. But we don't speak in front of humans," she hisses.

"Can I catch you!?" I ask her, excited. She stares at me and walks around me in circles, sizing me up. I feel like touching her ears, but I have a feeling that they're sharp and would hurt.

"Fine," she agrees, sitting back on her haunches. I dig around the sack for another pokeball, but can't find one.

"Oh no!" I exclaim, searching some more. "I'm out of pokeballs!"

"Well, I guess you won't be catching me today," she says, starting to walk back into the tall grass.

"Wait!" I say, pulling out the pink heal ball Aunt Joy gave me.

"There is no way I'm getting into _that,_" she says.

"Please?"

"No." I throw it at her anyway. She stays in. I CAUGHT A GLACEON AS MY FIRST POKEMON. I pick up the pokeball.

"Sorry, girl. I'm going to nickname you, okay?"

"I HATE YOU" comes softly from the pokeball. I smile.

"I'll name you Shimo," I say. I'm pretty happy with the name, actually. I thought it was pretty clever for a last minute name. I had planned on catching a male pokemon and naming him Spike or Butch or something, but now that I've got a Glaceon, I don't have to worry about that. I trot back to town and into Professor Dogwood's lab.

"What did you catch, Lloyd? A Bidoof? A Pidgey? Maybe even a Shinx?" he asks happily.

"You'll never believe it," I tell him.

"I bet I will. I've seen every pokemon in this region," he says.

"No you haven't," I tell him. "Go! Shimo!" I say. A great white light hides her for a moment, but then I'm pinned to the ground by my great blue pokemon.

"Are you sure it likes you?" Professor Dogwood asks. Shimo takes the hint and starts licking my face instead. Her tongue is freezing cold. "What is that thing!?" he jumps away from her, nearly knocking over his bookshelf.

"It's a Glaceon," I say proudly, standing up. Shimo sits next to me proudly.

"That can't be! They're not native to this region!" he gasps.

"Sure is, though!" I grin. I love scaring the poke out of Professor Dogwood.

"Okay, okay. You caught a Glaceon. Are you sure you can control that thing? It's very powerful," he says.

"Positive. Can I have my pokedex now?" I ask. Professor Dogwood leads me to a shelf.

"What color?" he asks me. I start to point to the red and black one, but I catch Shimo's interest in the blue and silver one. I smile and pick the blue one. She looks up at me, and I smile at her. "Are you sure? No one picks that one…" he murmurs. He's right. Most of the black and red ones are gone, so are the pink and purple, black and yellow, and black and white ones. The blue and silver ones are mostly all there, though.

"Positive. I might as well have one that resembles my very first pokemon," I tell him. He slides open the case and hands me my pokedex. He teaches me how to register pokemon on it, then pulls out his own.

"Mind if I register your new Glaceon on mine? I've never seen one," he admits.

"Sure thing!" I smile. Shimo sits still for a moment while he registers her. She looks at me, unsure of what to think. "It's okay," I murmur quietly.

"Now, remember that you have to feed her, shelter her, and heal her whenever she gets injured," he tells me.

"Yes sir!"

"You're taking care of two lives now. Keep that in mind, kid," he says. "Now, would you like some food, girl?" he asks Shimo. She glares at him. He doesn't seem to notice, though, because he pulls out some Lum berries and offers them to her. She hides everything but her head behind me and growls at him. "Don't like Lum berries!?" he marvels. "They heal status ailments like a burn, poison, or being frozen," he tells me. "Here, try some Rawst berries," he offers her those, and she cautiously takes them in her mouth, but doesn't eat them. "She's a strange pokemon, boy. Take good care of her," he tells me.

"Shimo! Back!" I say. She stares at me and the pokeball. "Is there any way I can leave her out of her pokeball?" I ask Professor Dogwood.

"Sure, as long as she follows you," he says. I nod and walk out with Shimo. She follows me.

"See, Shimo? He was pretty nice, right?" he says.

"I'm hungry," she says, spitting out the Rawst berries.

"Picky, picky," I murmur, digging around in my pack. She's suddenly right next to me, sniffing my bag.

"Do you… Do you have Oran berries in there…?" she asks timidly.

"I sure do! Do you want some?" I ask. She nods eagerly. I pull out a handful, and they're gone in a millisecond. "You were really hungry!" he laughs.

"Sorry. I really like Oran berries," she admits. "Hey, you know my name, but I don't know yours. What is it?"

"My name? It's Lloyd," I tell her. "Come on, I want you to meet my Aunt Joy." She follows me inside and is quickly tackled by Chansey. "Chansey! Down!" I yell out. Chansey gets up, squealing in pain. Shimo stands there, eyes tightly shut with spikes of ice on her. "Woah." She shakes off, getting shards of ice all over the house.

"Lloyd? Are you home-" Aunt Joy stares at Shimo. "I-is that-how could-"

"It's my Glaceon, Aunt Joy. Her name is Shimo," I tell her. She says nothing.

"Okay, but you have to clean up the ice shards, okay?" she says happily. I knew she'd take it like this. My Aunt Joy's pokedex is practically full, since she's a nurse at the pokecenter. Nothing fazes her, really. She pulls the apron over her head. "I'm heading out to work, okay? Be good, and feed your Glaceon, okay?" I agree, and she heads out.

"Well, it's just you and me now, Shimo," I say. "Let's try some training, huh?"

Chapter 3 – Goodbyes.

I blast another Bidoof with my Blizzard. I'm bored, and Lloyd seems to be picking up on it. He sits down with his head in his hands. I stare at him closely. He hates it when I do that, but I do it anyway. He has pink hair that sticks up above his white band that he has tied around his forehead. He wears a black and red hoodie and jeans. His boots are brown and hidden by his jeans. He has silver eyes that change expressions every five seconds.

"What?" he asks grumpily.

"Nothing," I murmur, trotting along.

"You're more powerful than I am," he sighs. I walk over and sit next to him.

"I'm just more experienced. Now, let's go blast some more Pidgeys," I suggest.

"If we keep doing this, there will be no more pokemon in the area," he says. I shake my head wearily. He has a point, though.

"Okay, fine, let's leave."

"Leave!? Shimo, this is the farthest I've ever been. I've never left town-except when I was a baby," he admits. "But I obviously don't remember that."

"Well, that's an even better reason to go out and see the world," I say, nudging him with my head. He gets up, laughing.

"Okay, fine. But let's go see Aunt Joy first," he remarks. I follow him to the pokecenter, where Nurse Joy lets me sit on the counter. I like Nurse Joy. She feeds me Oran Berries and is really nice to me.

"Come here, Shimo," she says, smiling. I follow her to the back and sit on the counter again. She pats my head and puts me in a pokeball. Lucky for me, it's not a heal ball. I can feel her picking me up and putting me onto something. The ball clicks into something. A shot of power flows through me and makes me feel better. All of my cuts and bruises are gone. She picks up my pokeball and releases me. I look at her happily. She guides me back to Lloyd.

"Aunt Joy, we're leaving," he says.

"Okay, hon," she says, cleaning off a pokeball.

"No, Aunt Joy. I mean we're leaving. To battle more powerful pokemon," he says. Nurse Joy looks at him.

"I, uh… Okay, hon. Write me a few letters when you get the chance, okay?" she says. She lifts the counter and hugs Lloyd tightly. "Be careful," she murmurs. She stops hugging him and bends over to look at me. "Keep him safe, okay?" she says. I nod and let out a cry. She turns back to Lloyd. "Catch some more pokemon. Keep them safe and make sure to drink lots of water. Be careful, okay?" she says.

"Yes, Aunt Joy," Lloyd laughs. We begin to walk out of town. "You want to sit in my bag?" Lloyd offers. I climb up into his bag. I'm pretty small for a Glaceon, but he still has a hard time carrying me. I stick my head in the bag and close my eyes. Before we're even to the tall grass, we're stopped. I look out of the bag. Lloyd and another boy are arguing. The kid has green hair, and isn't alone. A team of other tough looking kids stand behind him.

"Aw! Look at Mr. Cotton Candy Hair! Looks like he's going away. What pokemon did you catch?" the grass hair kid asks. I let out a low growl. Lloyd puts his hand on the bag.

"N-none of your business, Ace!" Lloyd says back. Ace The Grass Hair Kid laughs.

"I challenge you to a battle! My powerful Shinx against your first pokemon!" Ace grins. "Go! Shinx!" A mean looking Shinx pops out of a pokeball.

"No, Ace. I don't want to battle."

"What? You too weak?" Ace taunts. I squirm higher in the bag until I can see grass haired kid more easily.

"Just let me battle him. I'll kick his Shinx's tail," I whisper. Lloyd sighs and gives in.

"Go! Shimo!" he yells.

"Shimo? What kind of name is-" Ace stops speaking when I hit the ground. I growl at him and size up his small Shinx. Lloyd takes advantage of Ace's pause and commands me to use Blizzard. The Shinx faints instantly. "No fair! You cheated!" he yells, running for the nearest pokecenter. I snarl at his friends, and they run off, too.

"Thanks, Shimo," he smiles.

"No problem," I murmur. A shout from behind us causes me to latch onto the nearest person with Ice Fang. Professor Dogwood yowls in pain. I don't let go immediately.

"No! Shimo! Don't do that!" Lloyd yells. I sigh and let go. Dogwood runs around in pain. Serves him right for sneaking up on us. "I'm sorry, Professor! I guess you just kind of snuck up on us and Shimo did the first thing that came to mind," Lloyd apologizes. Dogwood stares at me. I snarl at him and show my fangs. He backs away, still holding his leg. He pulls out a potion with his leg and drinks it. The wound goes away. I'm tempted to give him another one.

"Oh, yes, that's right. I came to give you these," he pulls out some pokeballs, potions, repels, and berries. I sniff them cautiously. They seem safe.

"Thanks, Professor!" Lloyd grins, taking the materials and putting them in his bag. I stare at Dogwood uneasily. He smells like chemicals. Dogwood walks away, wishing us well. I wonder if there were hidden intentions behind that good bye. "Come on, Shimo. Let's go," he says. I happily walk behind him, ready to leave behind this whole town.

Chapter 4 – Helping Pokemon

I am so not ready to leave my hometown. I can already feel the homesickness settling in. Shimo glares at me. She knows what I'm thinking. I try to make conversation with her as we go along.

"So, uh, where do pokemon eggs come from?" I ask her uneasily. She looks at me, her eyes full of laughter. It's one of the only times I've seen her not looking grumpy.

"They don't come from pokemon, if that's what you're thinking," she laughs.

"Where do they come from, then?" I inquire.

"You'd never believe me," she says, killing the discussion. "Where are we going?"

"Uh… I don't really know…" I admit, scratching my head.

"You don't know!? Good gosh, then why are you leading? I was wondering why you were going to send us into the swamps," she exclaims. "I'll be leading from now on." I can't really argue with that, since I have no valid argument against her. "And for the record, I don't believe in making pokemon go into pokeballs. It's just stupid, no matter how comfy it is in there," she carries on. Once you warm up to her, she's really chatty and rather hyper.

"Shimo, there's a Butterfree," I say. She leaps at it, bites it with Icy Fang, and carries on like nothing happened. "You do realize that I'm your trainer, right?" I murmur.

"Hm? Oh, sorry. Once you get a little more experience, I'll let you control me or whatever," she agrees. Well, better than nothing. I would love to be able to actually fight like a real trainer, but I can't be a real trainer, since I know that pokemon talk and I have a really high leveled pokemon. Today hasn't started like I thought it would. It's been an amazing day, though. I caught my first pokemon, I learned pokemon can talk, and my first pokemon is freakishly powerful. And, of course, I finally beat Ace at something.

Ace and I used to be best friends as kids. We got along greatly. After he discovered he was rich and I didn't know who my parents were, he ditched me. I don't know what happened. One day, we were best friends, and the next day, he was with his new group of friends. Their favorite game to play was teasing me. Aunt Joy wasn't able to help. They would leave me alone when I was around an adult, but whenever I got away, they'd make fun of me for hiding behind the adults. Ace always beat me at everything. He always got the coolest toys, he got the most attention, best grades, and even had parents. Until today, he beat me at everything. Now, with Shimo at my side, I finally came out on top. I felt good, but also a little guilty.

"Coin for your thoughts?" Shimo breaks my thoughts.

"Just thinking about how we beat Ace's Shinx," I grin.

"Well, don't let the power get to your head. Once we travel far enough, there will be pokemon more powerful than me. I'm not exactly what you'd call a 'power pokemon'. I'm not high-leveled or anything. It's just that your town has weak pokemon," she says. I frown. "No offense. It just is."

"No, you're right. We should probably gather some other pokemon, though," I suggest. Shimo grins, which is kind of creepy, because she doesn't usually smile like that.

"Let me give you some tips. Get a Turtwig-it'll evolve into a powerful Torterra. They're level-headed, they'll listen to you, and they're loyal. They're grass and ground, so they're powerful against electric and water types. Get a Vulpix, because those evolve into Nintales. Ninetales are not good to have if you're going to make one mad. They hold grudges for a very long time. They're fire types, though, so they're good against ice pokemon like me, and grass types. Try to get a Growlithe or Arcanine. They're really loyal and agile. Get a Ralts, they can evolve into a Gardevoir, which is pretty and powerful," she suggests. I stare at her blankly. "If I tell you to catch a pokemon, catch it," she says.

"Okay," I laugh. We travel for a while with Shimo leading. Every once in a while, we'll come across a few weak pokemon, and we'll have a battle with them. Shimo allows me to shout commands every once in a while, but for the most part, she knows what to do. "You want to stop for lunch?" I suggest. Shimo just nods. I know she can talk and everything, but sometimes, she'll go into trances where she just doesn't speak. I ask her why she does that. After all, a trainer and pokemon should be pretty honest with each other, right?

"I guess I have to get used to speaking. That's all. Pokemon don't usually speak to each other. We don't need to. Most of us live alone, unless you're a Mightyena or a Growlithe or something," she remarks.

"Oh, I get it. So they live in packs?" I ask her, trying to keep up the conversation.

"Yeah. Kind of like a pack. They know the rules, though. You can only battle one-on-one unless the other is playing by unfair rules," Shimo says.

"Rules?" I murmur, handing her a berry. She eats it and nods.

"Rules. The unspoken rules of us wild pokemon. You don't speak-ever. You can't team up on other pokemon unless they're being unfair, don't run after a pokemon who has chosen to run away from the fight, etc. There are a ton of them. Some pokemon don't abide by them, though," she says. She swallows another berry. "That's where the helping pokemon come in handy."

"Helping pokemon?" I ask. I've never heard of those.

"You know, the ones that are really powerful and are one of a kind. Like Dialga and Articuno," she says. She stares at me like I'm stupid or something.

"Legendary pokemon are real!?" I exclaim. "And you call them helping pokemon?"

"Well, personally, I do. I saw one once, actually. A bunch of Oddishes were bugging a baby Vulpix, and Entei came running over. Those Oddishes were scared out of their leaves. I watched from some grass, but Entei still saw me. He stared at me, bowed, then left. I guess the bow was more for manners than anything else. I still find helping-er-legendary pokemon a little weird. Don't you?" Shimo asks, looking at me. I nod.

"Well yes, they are a little strange when you put it that way. But really, I think they're awesome!" I grin. I've always dreamed of catching a legendary. Maybe Shimo can help me with that. "Say, you wouldn't know what happens to pokemon when they go in the daycare, would you?" I ask tentatively. I'm careful not to ask her too much.

"Yes. I do know. They run around a bunch and somehow get stronger. And that's about it," Shimo remarks. I nod. Not the answer I wanted to hear, but that's okay, too. I look at Shimo. She looks really tired and probably needs to rest.

"Are you tired?" I ask her.

"No," she quickly responds, lifting her head higher and walking more confidently. A few minutes pass, and her head starts to lower, and her feet start to drag.

"Are you sure you're not tired?" I ask her again.

"Positive," she says. This time, she doesn't have the energy to pick her head back up. I sigh and scoop her up. She's awfully light for a Glaceon. I've heard they're supposed to weigh fifty pounds or more, but Shimo doesn't seem to weigh nearly that much. "Thanks," she murmurs.

"It's alright," I whisper. She falls asleep in no time, and I can hear soft snores. I lean in to hear them. Her breath is icy cold, and it smells like peppermint. I smile and keep walking. I stand on a hill and catch sight of the next town. I smile and begin walking there.

Chapter 5 – Companions and Gym Battles

I wake up on a bed somewhere in an unfamiliar place. I'm in someone's room. I can see a human's bed with a lump in it. I finally remember all of yesterday. I get up, stretch, and look at the lump closely. A tuft of pink hair is all I see peeking out of the covers. I leap on the bed and sit next to Lloyd. I have a great idea in mind. I pull the covers down slightly and blow on his head. He shoots right up, rubbing his forehead.

"What the Diglett!" he yells, looking around. I grin at him. He glares at me. "I'm gonna get you!" he says. I run from him and he chases me around the room. I land on his head and lick his forehead again. "It's so cold!"

"I _am_ a Glaceon, silly," I tease.

"Well, yes, but I didn't know that even your breath was cold! Say, are you cold blooded?" he asks, lifting me off of his head.

"No. My blood is cold, but cold blooded means your body has no intention of keeping you warm, so in the cold you become more sluggish. I become more active," I explain. I think I lost him at 'no'.

"Oh. Okay. Let's get some food!" he says excitedly. I have to run to keep up with him. Apparently we were staying in a hotel. I've never been inside one. It's really big, though. We race to something called an elevator, where Lloyd has to hold me from getting sick. We finally make it to the bottom floor, where I jump out of Lloyd's arms and land on the solid, unmoving ground. Lloyd dashes past me towards the food place. They call it a café. He gulps down whatever he can find, and gives me a lot of food, too. I eat it happily, and sit down, watching the people around us. Some of them give Lloyd and I a dirty look, while others happily bend over and pat me on the head or give me berries.

Finally, Lloyd seems full enough to roll off if he ate any more. We head back up the stairs. He takes the elevator, and I take the stairs. I get there faster than he does. We head back into the room and sit down.

"We'll need more pokemon before we can battle the gym leader," Lloyd points out. I shake my head.

"No we won't. This is a water town. Water is no match for an ice type. We'll breeze right through," I bark.

"You have a point there. Well, are you feeling okay?" he asks. I nod, but he takes me to the pokecenter anyway. They fix up my paws and I leave feeling better than ever.

"Let's go!" I whisper to him. We head right over to the gym, where a man stops us.

"How many pokemon do you have?" he asks tiredly. It seems he needs to fill out a sheet before we can go.

"Just one," Lloyd answers happily. The man snorts.

"What, are you stupid, kid? You've got to go in there with more than one, even if your pokemon is a grass type," the man says.

"She's not," Lloyd says calmly. He picks me up.

"What is that thing!?" the man exclaims.

"She's a Glaceon. Now can we please go in?" Lloyd asks.

"Just fill out this sheet for me," the fat man says, handing the sheet to Lloyd. He fills it out and we walk in. There's water everywhere. Apparently it's a maze that we have to get across. Lloyd starts to ponder at it. I get an idea and blow on the water. It freezes instantly. Lloyd grins at me, and we slide right to the gym leader.

"Very clever," the fat gym leader says. He looks like he's practically made out of water. He dresses weird, too.

"That was all my Glaceon. Right, Shimo?" Lloyd smiles. I mew at him happily. "Sir, I challenge you to a battle."

"That's what everyone comes for, isn't it? Alright, let's get right down to it," the gym leader smiles. "Go! Wartortle!" the giant Wartortle comes waddling towards us.

"Go! Glaceon!" Lloyd yells. I leap in front and wait for a command. "Use Hail," he commands. It begins to hail, knocking the Wartortle on its back. Lloyd doesn't waste his time. "Use Ice Fang," he says. I like that he doesn't yell like every other trainer. He's calm, and he knows I can hear him. I charge at the Wartortle, and he struggles to get up. I bite down, causing the water in his veins to freeze. It's probably very painful. He faints, leaving the gym leader with five more pokemon for us to battle. We knock out three more of his water pokemon. He pulls out a Blastoise. This one takes a little longer to faint, but we knock him out.

"I didn't want to have to do this to a new trainer, but it looks like I'll have to," the gym leader says. I take a step back, respectfully waiting for the fat gym leader to pull out another pokemon. I expect something like Gyarados or yet another Blastoise. I did not prepare for what he sent out, though. What he sent out broke the ice. Literally. "Go! Kyogre!"

"Hey! You're not allowed to use legendaries!" Lloyd shouts at the gym leader.

"Sorry, kid. I've got a reputation to uphold," the fat man tells him. I lunge at the gym leader, rage surging through my veins. I can feel the cold inside of me, getting colder and colder with every step. _No one_ touches my trainer. The water freezes under me, creating a kind of icy path. "Get your pokemon away from me!" he yells. This makes me madder still.

"Shimo! No!" Lloyd exclaims, panicked. I would have listened to him, but it was too late anyway. I land on top of the fat gym leader. I can feel his flesh freezing under my paws. He screams in pain and squirms under me. The Kyogre swims towards me. I jump off its trainer, bow to it, and use Icy Fang to freeze its watery self. Lloyd is out on the battlefield. I run over to him. He looks furious. Many people are helping the gym leader. No one seems to care about the fainted Kyogre. We walk out with no gym badge. I guess the news spreads fast, because the people outside the gym start cheering when we come out. I look at Lloyd, but he looks just as confused as I am. Reporters begin to crowd around us. I let out a bark to let them know they're being too loud. No one notices. I bark louder. Nothing. Finally, I bark as loud as I can. Silence. Lloyd scoops me up.

"Wait!" a voice from the gym yells. We spin around, and there's the gym leader. I can feel my rage building up again. My body gets colder. Lloyd hushes me. "Here's your gym badge, kid. I'm sorry I used the legendary. I shouldn't have done that," he says. Lloyd doesn't say anything, but he nods. "I'm sorry, Glaceon," the gym leader says, handing me an Oran berry. I forgive him immediately and eat it.

"Just… Thank you, sir," Lloyd stutters. The leader goes back in, clearly still injured from my attack. I feel a little bad about it, but he had it coming. Most of the reporters leave us alone after that. One girl doesn't seem to get the point, though. Lloyd doesn't mind. She's a pretty little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She holds a Growlithe in her arms, who seems pretty content.

"You must be the new trainer around here! Were you the one who just beat our gym leader?" the yellow haired girl asks.

"Yes," Lloyd says calmly. "Why was everyone cheering?"

"Our gym leader, Crasher Wake, has been known to cheat in the battles. He's a good guy, but he was too powerful, and we needed someone to stand up to him. I hear your Glaceon really beat him up today-literally!" the girl grins.

"Yeah. I don't like that she did that, though," he says frowning at me. I drop my head.

"I think it was brave! Good thing she was an ice type. Crasher Wake hates ice types," Yellow Hair says.

"Thanks, I think…" Lloyd murmurs. He's in a bad mood, I can tell. We walk along, Lloyd and Yellow Hair still talking. Apparently the girl's name is Rain, and she wants to become a pokemon breeder. "What pokemon do you want to breed?" Lloyd asks her.

"Oh, just about any pokemon. I love Growlithes, as you can see, and I really like Eevees," she says, smiling at me. "And there are so many others I would love to breed."

"Do you have any Dittos?" Lloyd asks her.

"No, not yet, but I'm working on it. I've got to get a Ralts to trade with someone for a Ditto. They're not native to this area. I've got the Ralts, but I need to go all the way to Hearthome before I can do anything else," Rain admits. I see the look on Lloyd's face brighten.

"Well, why don't you come with us? We're just kind of walking around for the most part. I don't really know what I want to become. I've always dreamed of becoming one of the Elite Four," he says.

"Actually, my sister is the Champion. Ever heard of Cynthia?" she asks. I stare at the little girl-hard. She's got the blonde hair like Cynthia. I know about Cynthia, because everyone knows about Cynthia. I mean, who _doesn't_ know who Cynthia?

"You're Cynthia's sister!?" Lloyd exclaims. I shake my head at him.

"Wow, it seems like your Glaceon understands us!" Rain smiles, patting me on the head.

"Her name is Shimo, and you have no idea…"

"Wow. She's a really impressive Glaceon. My parents raised Eevees a long time ago, and my mother's favorite was a Glaceon, but she was a lot less powerful than this little one. Shimo's awfully small for a Glaceon, you know. You should probably let a professor look at that," Rain remarks.

"Oh, no, she's fine," Lloyd smiles. I nod at him.

"You've only had her, for, what? A day? You should really get her checked out, Lloyd," Rain says worriedly. By now, we're already on the elevator.

"No, really, she's fine and healthy. Professor Dogwood never said anything about her being sick," Lloyd remarks.

"Yes, but since when has he seen a Glaceon?" Rain rants. We're finally inside the hotel room, where Lloyd and Rain sit down across from each other on chairs. "You should really get her checked out, she looks a little sick…"

"I'M FINE," I growl. Rain doesn't react for a moment. Then it registers in her head. Her pretty blue eyes fill with shock, and she's soon standing on the chair.

"OH MY GOSH IT TALKS" she yelps. Lloyd hits his face with his palm. I sit next to him.

"You are not being very cooperative today," he tells me. I smile at him and casually lick my paw. Rain continues to freak out. Her Growlithe doesn't seem so concerned, though.

"Well, she was bugging me about how healthy I was," I mumble.

"You shouldn't have scared her like that," Lloyd says strictly. I shrug and continue to casually lick the dirt off of my icy pelt. Rain finally settles down and sits in the chair.

"So… Shimo can talk?" Rain wonders.

"No, I'm a mute," I say sarcastically. "Of course I can talk!" Rain rubs her eyes, but I'm obviously not going anywhere. Lloyd shakes his head.

"I'm sorry. Shimo's in a bad mood. She attacked a gym leader and yelled at you. I think she should go back in her pokeball," Lloyd threatens.

"Oh no, not the pokeball," I say, crystals of sarcasm forming in my voice. "Seriously, boy. You've got to come up with a better threat than that."

"I'll shove Lum berries down-"

"OKAY FINE I'LL APOLOGIZE!" I apologize to Rain, but it has no effect. She just stares at me. I roll my eyes and trot over to my bed and curl up, yawning. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now," I tell them. Rain nods, while Lloyd shakes his head at me. I put my head on my paws and fall asleep.


End file.
